RALEIGH, N.C. -- The dispute over the display of the Christian flag in a small Western North Carolina town may not be over, despite a city-backed compromise measure intended to satisfy both critics and supporters.
The King City Council voted Monday to approve a plan that will allow residents to display religious flags at a public war memorial, including the Christian flag, as long as they're on a list of 41 symbols approved for display in military cemeteries by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.
The plan, which was designed with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, is aimed to appease both critics of the original display of a lone Christian flag, and those who protested the flag's removal.
But at least one group that criticized the old display says the new policy still doesn't satisfy their concerns about a government entity sponsoring religious speech.
"I think the city has made a big mistake," said Robert Boston, senior policy analyst with Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Boston wants to know whether people will be allowed to display flags showing nonreligious symbols on the VA's list, like those approved for use on the gravestones of atheist and humanist military veterans.
Even if that is the case, Boston said there are still problems with setting aside public property for religious speech.
"I don't believe the city can open up a forum for free speech and then say only religious people can speak here," he said.
Boston said lawyers with the organization will review the language approved by the city council.
A call to King City Manager John Cater was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Such concerns are misplaced, according to Joseph Infranco, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
The atheist and humanist symbols are explicitly included as eligible for display, Infranco said. And the policy is designed so that the display of flags is up to individual residents, who apply for a permit and have their names drawn in a lottery, rather than the city.
"Groups like Americans United for Separation have an extreme agenda that is trying to eradicate any recognition of our religious heritage in the public square," Infranco said. "I'm really puzzled as to how they could turn a policy that honors veterans into a constitutional crisis."
The dispute began after a veteran of the Afghanistan war complained about the display at the war memorial of the Christian flag, which depicts a red cross in a blue square in the upper left corner of a white field.
After complaints from Americans United and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the city removed the flag, prompting outcry from many residents. Hundreds marched in a demonstration, attended public meetings or participated in a vigil at the war memorial demanding that the Christian flag be restored.
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